PPQ: Ham and Cheese Kolache

This week’s Project Pastry Queen challenge was selected by Emily of She Makes and Bakes. And it’s one of my very, very favorite recipes in the entire book: Kolache.

Kolache are czech breakfast pastries that are very popular in Texas. While traditionally topped with a cream cheese or fruit mixture, it was the savory versions that sold out day after day at my parents’ bakery. Sausage, ham and cheese, and jalapeno sausage & cheese were the most popular varieties.

There’s almost no better breakfast during the summer than a peach kolache but I chose to make a few changes to the recipe and make ham & cheese kolache this week:
– I let the dough rest in the fridge overnight. The recipe suggests at least 4 hours but the long overnight rise makes the dough more flavorful.
– I used 2 oz of dough per kolache (a little smaller than a golf ball), flattened the dough into a circle, and topped with a pinch of shredded cheddar and a spoonful of cubed ham.

– 1 lb of ham (I got two 1/2-inch slices from the deli counter) and 4 ounces of shredded cheddar will get you about 20 kolache from a half batch of kolache dough.
– Adding fresh jalapeno slices to the filling is optional. Recommended, but optional.

Holy cow. I haven’t bad a kolache in about 10 years. I think we even had a place in my city called Kolache Station. Oh. Looked it up and it still exists! I’m closer to the Czech Republic than to Texas at this point so I guess I can get my kolache fill there if need be. Although I suppose making these would be much easier. Love the ham and cheese combo!

HEB sells jalapeno, sausage, and cheese links that are perfect – sometimes they even have them in small links. Otherwise, I just cut the large links to make them thinner. They’re more similar to “on the grill” links rather than the breakfast sausage links.

I have a quick question! I like the way you made the ham & cheese kolaches to look more like a dinner roll- how do you fold it after you have placed the filling in the middle? I am guessing you bake it seam-side down too?

Houston had the best Kolaches ever. Now I’m in N Tx, The DFW area and all they have is the ones with the little sausage. I don’t eat those. I like the ham n cheese and the scrambled eggs ones!! Yum for this recipe!!

I live in Kansas city and every now and then we will have someone bring in kolaches with scrambled eggs and sausage in the middle. How do you do the eggs and sausage in the middle, are they already partially cooked? Please let me know. thanks